Two-A-Days: AFC & NFC North Divisions.

So what I have decided to do is rip off the Mike and MIKE show on ESPN and hold my version of 'two-a-days'. Only instead of breaking down two teams in the NFL, I have decided to breakdown two divisions a day. This will consist of breaking down each team in a division and ranking each team from who will finish last to who will win their respected divisions. My Rankings will be estimated by how each team faired last year, how they improved their teams through free agency and the draft, their schedule strength and just how good they are doing in the preseason thus far. NFC NORTH Last year it was the Chicago Bears who were above and beyond any other team in the NFC north. They won their own division by five games. Their dominance in the NFC North transferred over into the rest of the conference as they went on to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl. Where the Colts defeated them. This year I do not see the Chicago Bears running away with their division championship as they did so easily last year. Lets start off with the Green Bay Packers. Who finished five games behind the NFC champion Bears in 2006. This year the Packers have in my opinion improved on defense. I think Outside Linebacker A.J. Hawk is going to be a beast in this league and he will eventually give Brian Urlacher a run for best linebacker in the NFC North. Second year head coach Mike McCarthey; will have yet another chance to grow and become and even better coach. Now with that being said, their offense is in shambles. It used to be you could never say that about a team who has Brett Favre as a leader. But that isn't the case any more. He needed help and the Packers simply did not supply him with enough help in the off-season. They had the opportunity to get Brett the help he has begged for. But they failed to acquire Wide Receiver Randy Moss before the NFL Draft. It is assumed that they could have had Randy for a very cheap price but opted not to trade for the Star receiver. Now the only playmaker that the Packers have on offense went down to an injury in the Packs last Preseason game. (Donald Driver) Obviously their success depends on Donald Driver can return healthy this year. Next we turn to the Detroit Lions, who acquired the best collage player coming out of the draft when they drafted Calvin Johnson. A lot of so-called experts say that Calvin's impact won't be felt for at least a season or two at the most. But I am one of the few that disagree. I think that this young receiver will make an immediate impact in this Mike Martz Pass-happy offense. He is too talented not to do so. On the other side of Calvin is a top ten Receiver in Roy Williams and he's not the only really good wide receiver that they have. They also have Mike Furrey who turned heads last year. So the Lions aren't lacking any talent in the receiver department. I will go as far to say with a little work they can be one of the best wide receiver tandems in the NFL. Now their Quarterback isn't that bad either. Jon Kitna isn't a Peyton Manning by any stretch of the imagination. But he has enough talent in his arm to win you games. The only problem I see for the Lions on Offense is their Running back. Kevin Jones is now reported to be out for the season. I do believe their running situation will improve with Tatum Bell and TJ Duckett helping them out. But we will have to see just how good they can be as the season unfolds. But the true test is within their defense, if their D can hold up and improve then I see a much improved team all round. The Minnesota Vikings finished last year with the best run defense in the National Football league. They have improved their DB position when they added Mike Doss in the off-season and Darren Sharper is a good safety. I would say that their defense will improve this year, but there is only one problem, their defensive coordinator is now the head coach of the Steelers. So if they can transition well with their new Defense Coordinator than I see no problems for this team. On offense I see a team improving and rebuilding. So as the offense improves the team improves. They drafted Adrian Peterson who many foresee becoming the next game breaking running back in the NFL if he can remain healthy. They just acquired Kelly Holcomb who is a suitable QB who can manage a game for them. Giving their young hopeful Quarterback Tavaris Jackson room to grow into what Coach Brad Childress says is the next Donovan McNabb. This team will be great, but not yet. They still need to make strides on offense with Tavaris and with Peterson before they take over this division. Next is Da' bears, the reigning NFC Champions. They lost their Defensive coordinator in the off-season but since Lovie Smith is a defensive minded coach it really won't affect this team. Because most people give credit to Lovie for making this defense what it is and not Rivera. So with that being said we all know that their defense will probably continue their dominating ways from last year. The question is can Rex Grossman silence the critics and become a Quarterback who belongs in the super bowl instead of one who hitched a ride with his defense there. So far in the preseason he's had his ups and downs. But there offense is ranked third in scoring in the preseason. But we saw this before; last year he came out of the gate firing on all cylinders. Some even began to call him the next Brett Favre. But it wasn't going to last because once midseason came he was losing games for the Bears. If not for that stout defense, Rex probably wouldn't be enjoying that NFC championship Ring he has. Another problem I see is their star running back Thomas Jones now plays for the Jets. Now I am sure the reasoning behind getting rid of Jones was to allow their top draft pick Cedric Benson room to grow. So far Cedric Benson has been doing well in the preseason. But the odds on a Running Back who never started an entire season before doing well aren't that great. Their new Tight End Olsen I believe will be a stud. And Muhsin Mohammed and Bernard Berrian are two top receivers in the game. The receivers, the tight end and the transition of Devin Hester; (Their star return man) as a Wide Receiver, Will give Rex all the weapons he needs. The problem is Rex. Can he take the steps needed to become the Quarterback he needs to be to return to the super bowl? Personally I do not see it happening. But we do have to remember that the Bears have the single best defense in the NFC. Which is a shutdown defense. So if Rex can only learn to manage the Game as Big Ben did, and not throw it away. Then they should repeat as NFC North Champions. Followed by the Lions, Vikings and Packers. AFC NORTH The Baltimore Ravens won the AFC North last year. With their always tough as nails Defense, they proved in 2006 to be the second most Winn ingest team in the NFL (Tied with the Bears at 13-3.) They led the AFC north by the same amount of games as their NFC counterpart, with five games. So will they repeat as AFC north champions in 2007? Let's break down the teams and find out. Let's start of with the Cincinnati Bengals, who in many people's minds have one of the most high-powered offenses in the National Football league. Their Quarterback, Carson Palmer is ranked in the top five of Quarterbacks in the NFL. Most believe that he only takes a backseat to Peyton Manning and Tom Brady. During the 2005 season the Bengal's were having their most successful season in recent memory. Their defense was clicking almost as well as their high-powered offense, by producing pickoff after pickoff. Keeping the ball in the hands of their offense as they won the NFC North. Going into the Playoffs they were one of the teams that was favored to go to the Super bowl. It wasn't until Carson Palmer got hurt in the Wildcard playoff game against the Pittsburg Steelers that their hopes were all but lost. The injury was to Carson's ACL and caused the Bengal's to lose to the eventual Super Bowl XL Champions Steelers. Most sports Physicians and trainers agree that it takes a player at least year to recover from an ACL injury as bad as Carson Palmer's was. During the 2006 season Palmer made his return and even though Carson was playing well, he just wasn't playing at one hundred percent. In 2007 everyone in Bengal's Nation are crossing their fingers and holding their breaths in hope that Carson Palmer will comeback one hundred percent once the season begins. So far in the preseason the Bengal's haven't won a single game yet. But it is the preseason and we all know that these games don't count to most starters in the NFL. I do see Carson Palmer returning to the Carson Palmer of old this year. He has plenty of help on Offense to do so. With T.J. Houshamzadeh and the always entertaining, always controversial Receiver Chad Johnson for Carson to toss the ball to. Obviously there is no lack of top receivers on the Bengal's. Once Chris Henry returns to the fold the Bengal's receivers will be even more deadly. Their Running back is Rudi Johnson, who is considered to be a top tier running back in the NFL. To most opposing defenses the Bengal's have a "Pick your poison" type of offense. But when you are in a division with two top defenses with the Ravens and Steelers, you have to have a good defense. And that has always been this team's akilies heel. That and keeping their players out of the slammer. Their offense has always been dominant. But when it came to their defense, with the exception of 2005. It has always been a crapshoot. It is a defense that relies on the interception to win games. But you cannot always win in the NFL that way. So if they manage to step up this year and become a good defense again I see this team making it into the 2007 playoffs. Not necessarily as the AFC north champions, But as a wildcard team. Next is the Cleveland Browns. Who managed to draft two highly coveted draft picks in this year NFL Draft. When they drafted offensive tackle Joe Thomas with the third overall pick, then they traded up to get in some draft experts opinions, the second best Quarterback in the draft-Brady Quinn. They then signed Running Back Jamal Lewis to be their starter. So far the browns are obviously rebuilding for the future, which makes this year pretty much a wash. I mean, don't get me wrong they could do well. But I highly doubt it. With the types of teams in this division I would advise the Browns to keep rebuilding. And PLEASE CLEVELAND, do NOT throw Brady Quinn to the wolves so soon. Allow him to hold the clipboard and learn. Let Charlie Frye take the hits, and then bring him in gradually. In the past this has worked to benefit teams. Look at Philip Rivers who learned by watching Drew Brees. When a player especially a quarterback is just thrown onto the field almost disastrous consequences occur. The Browns have witnessed this before. When they drafted Tim Couch in 1999 with the first overall pick. They let him do his learning on the field and now he hasn't played a NFL game in years. Then again, there are cases of teams throwing their QB out there and he does well. But the odds are against any team who does that. I believe the Browns have some valuable assets on their team. Their defense shows flashes of brilliance. Being coached by a man who owns three super bowl rings for coaching defense will do that for you. But it should be more than just flashes. On the other side of the ball when they drafted Joe Thomas they made their Offensive line a lot tougher. And with Wide Receivers Joe Jurevicius, Braylon Edwards and Tight End Kellen Winslow Jr. Their Future looks bright for quarterback Brady Quinn. However if I detect a weakness anywhere on this offense it is at the running back position. Sure they have Jamal Lewis, but which Jamal Lewis do they really have? Is it the one who will rush for over 1,000 yards and 10 plus touchdowns, or the most recent Jamal Lewis? The one who gains most of his yards in meaningless games. Here's a fact for you, Jamal Lewis rushed for the majority of his yards against the Browns. Which as we all know he currently plays for. So with that being the case, whom will he rush for the majority of his yards against? Will it be his old team the Ravens? Hell no. Then maybe the Steelers? Hells no again. Let us cut to the chase, Jamal Lewis' best days are behind him. But they better sign or trade for that Running back because the odds of the drafting one in 2008 are weak since they traded their pick to Cowboys to get Brady Quinn. The Pittsburgh Steelers, It was almost two years ago that they "Rode the bus" to a Super Bowl victory as a wildcard team. We all recall that memorable journey that the Steelers were on in 2005. They were all but done when they turned their season around and went on that winning streak that led them to win Super Bowl XL. Their Quarterback, Big Ben became to youngest quarterback to win a super bowl. In 2006 it was the exact opposite. The Season started out with Ben Roethlisberger being seriously injured in a motorcycle accident. After that, concussions plagued the young Quarterback all season. The Steelers finished with an 8-8 record and Big Ben led the league in interceptions. They weren't able get into the playoffs in order to defend their World Championship. Shortly after the season ended long-time head Coach Bill Cower retired. Now with a healthy Big Ben, this team is ready to take their rightful place with the AFC's elite. New Head Coach Mike Tomlin, has installed a freshness in Pittsburgh that most of the team has embraced. Tomlin, who coached the leagues number one rush defense with the Vikings, became the first African American head coach in Steelers history. To help big Ben regain respect to this team is the breakout running back "Fast" Willie Parker. Who in a few short years has become one of the better running backs in the NFL. They also have top NFL receiver and former Super Bowl XL MVP Hines Ward catching the ball. That coupled with a tough defense makes the Pittsburgh Steelers a dangerous team when they are healthy. Now we turn to the 2006 AFC North Champions ? The Baltimore Ravens. Arguably the best defense in the entire NFL. The Ravens take no prisoners when they are on the field. Lets put it this way; The Ravens are the Modern day Spartans. They do not care if you are the biggest guy out there or the lonesome kicker. If you are opposing them, you will get hurt. A lot of players say that the Ravens play "Prison Yard Ball". Because of their mentality to want to hurt their opponents. But that is exactly the way Defensive coordinator Rex Ryan coaches them. The Defense led by Ray Lewis hasn't skipped a beat since the turn of this century. On the other side of the ball, their offensive line was always stout. They also have a tight end in Todd Heap who has been a Top Receiving tight end since he signed his contract. Up until this year it was Jamal Lewis who ran the ball for the Ravens. And he did run it well. But with his recent lack of production the Ravens decided to go in a different direction this year. So they traded for Willis McGahee. Willis was always considered to have potential to be great but behind a weak offensive line in Buffalo, he was limited to what he could do. Now behind this strong offensive line in Baltimore. McGahee can show the world what he is worth. And the Ravens will benefit from that. The weak part of this team for a long time was at Quarterback. The Ravens waited a long time for top pick Kyle Boller to come around. It wasn't until last year that the Ravens were sick of waiting so they went out and got former NFL MVP Steve McNair to lead their offense. Now with Pro Bowler Steve McNair and the group of receivers they have. Baltimore is poised to repeat as AFC North Champions. I believe that the AFC North Champions will be the Baltimore Ravens for the second year in a row, followed by the Steelers, Bengal's then Browns. I feel that there is a strong possibility that both Wildcards could end up coming out of the AFC North with Pittsburgh and Cincinnati. If they can manage to stay healthy.